Norwich City Football Club 5-1 Loss to Manchester City

The only thing I can really say following the Canaries 5-1 loss to Manchester City on Saturday, is that the Norwich City Canaries did a better job at defending Manchester City than Manchester United. When it's all said and done, Manchester City was clearly the superior team on Saturday.

Statistically, Manchester City was phenomenal. They completed 89.6 percent of their passes as opposed to the Canaries' 69.7 percent. Manchester City's 68.9 percent of possessions produced five goals, while Norwich City's 31.1 percent only produced one.

By controlling possessions, while completing almost 90 percent of their passes Manchester City took a total of 691 passes compared to the Canaries 297 passes. Shot wise, Manchester City took a total of 26 shots with 10 of them for goal. In addition, they had a whopping 12-4 corner kick advantage over the Canaries

Despite the overall match dominance, I felt the Canaries played a solid first half where they were only down 1-0. I was pleased when the Canaries almost tied the match 1-1 early in the second half when Bennett went on a fastbreak, before he sputtered and misfired his shot.

It's easy to make the argument that some of Manchester City's goals were luck, but I have a tough time believing that. Even though goalkeeper John Ruddy made a total of five saves, a couple of the goals he allowed were simply because he was half a step too slow. Not a good match for Ruddy, but it happens to the best of them.

As much as I hate to admit, a couple of Manchester City's goals were spectacular. Sergio Arguero's goal in the 32nd minute was excellent game awareness on his part. He beat the Canaries defense to give Manchester City a 1-0 lead in the first half.

In the second half, Samir Nasri's goal was simply a bounce that was mistimed by Ruddy in the 51st minute. Already leading 3-1 with less than 15 minutes of regulation Mario Balotelli's chip goal in the 88th minute, off the result of an earlier Ruddy block, is probably one of the most arrogant goals I've ever seen scored. While it would be easy to criticize Balotelli, I would rather shake my head and simply chuckle while accepting the fact that Saturday's match was a massacre.

By the way Manchester City played on Saturday, the only loss they may have under their belt is their financial loss of £197 million. While it's commendable that Manchester City has no reservation in losing money in becoming the best, it's a route I hope Norwich City never takes.

It has happened before and it's a formula that doesn't work for the Canaries.

Even though Saturday's loss was painfully difficult to swallow, I would rather support a Canaries club that is righting relegation under an ownership who's financially responsible. Rather than a club that is in horrendous debt because they wanted to compete with the status quo of the Premier League Soccer.

One thing many of us are looking forward to seeing is how our Canaries will respond when they face Newcastle United at Carrow Road this upcoming Saturday. Currently in 11th place, the Canaries will have the opportunity to earn three points and possibly reclaim a top 10 spot on the table.

What will Paul Lambert have in store on Saturday? How many goals will Norwich City be able to produce against a competitively tough Newcastle United club? While the answers are here today, they'll be available on Saturday.

Other Premier League Results from the Weekend

Chelsea won 3-0 over Newcastle United.

Blackburn Rovers won 4-2 over Swansea City.

Queens Park Rangers and West Bromwich Albion played to a 1-1 draw.

Tottenham Hotspur won 3-0 over Bolton Wanderers.

Arsenal won 4-0 over Wigan Athletic.

Manchester United won 1-0 over Aston Villa.

Stoke City won 1-0 over Everton.

Wolverhampton Wanderers won 2-1 over Sunderland.

Premier League Standings as of Monday, December 5, 2011

1. Manchester City (12-2-0, 38 pts)

2. Manchester United (10-3-1, 33 pts)

3. Tottenham Hotspur (10-1-2, 31 pts)

4. Chelsea (9-1-4, 28 pts)

5. Arsenal (8-2-4, 26 pts)

6. Newcastle United (7-5-2, 26 pts)

7. Liverpool (6-5-2, 23 pts)

8. Stoke City (5-3-6, 18 pts)

9. Aston Villa (3-7-4, 16 pts)

10. Everton (5-1-7, 16 pts)

11. Norwich City (4-4-6, 16 pts)

12. Queens Park Rangers (4-4-6, 16 pts)

13. West Bromwich Albion (4-3-7, 15 pts)

14. Swansea City (3-5-6, 14 pts)

15. Wolverhampton Wanderers (4-2-8, 14 pts)

16. Fulham (2-6-5, 12 pts)

17. Sunderland (2-5-7, 11 pts)

18. Blackburn Rovers (2-4-8, 10 pts)

19. Bolton Wanderers (3-0-11, 9 pts)

20. Wigan Athletic (3-2-9, 9 pts)

Cesar Diaz is a freelance copywriter & journalist who specializes in soccer coverage. If there's a soccer topic you believe that needs to be written about, please feel free to contact him. Easily accessible, you may contact him at CoveringSoccer@gmail.com and @CoveringSoccer.